Sweet Misery
by Mustard Yellow Sunshine
Summary: AU. Between an erratic grandpa, her strange new friends, and a clueless snob, Kagome's starting to think she's hit rock bottom. Until a next door hottie hanyou gets added to the mix. Some OOC-ness.
1. SM1

A/N I guess I'm just a sucker for pain. Yes, I've started another story without completing one of my on going fics. o_O I just got an idea for this story one day while taking my dog for a walk (of all things) and I wanted to start before it eluded me.  
  
This may not be very original, but I didn't copy anyone's work. at least not intentionally. I did indeed come up with this plot from the depths of my highly perturbed mind.  
  
It's only a teaser. if I don't get reviews, I won't update. simple as that. I may even pull the story off. I'm one of those authors who get a lot of inspiration from reviews, and it's a lot of incentive for me to write, trust me. so if you like, and you want to see this updated, review and maybe it'll happen.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha. I just borrowed him for awhile so I could play with him. *grins whilst rubbing grumbling Inu's ears*  
  
Warning: slight OOC-ness.  
  
~ Kagome's POV ~  
  
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Life sucks.  
  
Life really sucks.  
  
And it's not just because my family is insane, or that I'm a social outcast at school, though those two things alone are pretty depressing in and of themselves.  
  
Oh no.  
  
My mom decided, out of the blue, that she couldn't let grandpa live by himself anymore. She decided, with absolutely no regard toward mine or my brother's feelings, that we needed to move in with grandpa and keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't "hurt himself or people around him."  
  
As if.  
  
He's a grown man for crying out loud! He's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He doesn't need us to babysit him. So the man attacked a few pedestrians with demon wards trying to vanquish them, so what? What's the big deal? One mistake and he never hears the end of it. Is that really fair?  
  
Apparently it is, 'cause mom says we're gonna move in with him at the family shrine in Tokyo. Tomorrow.  
  
Great.  
  
Don't get me wrong, I love my grandpa, and I'm not completely in love with my life right now, but I very much doubt uprooting me from my childhood home and transplanting me to Tokyo is really going to help anything. I'll be just as much of a loser there as I am here.  
  
And although I may sound self-pitying, I really don't mind being a social outcast so much. It's better than the alternatives. My school is, unfortunately, full to the brim of cliques. And they're all very stereotypical cliques. What are the odds? My friends and I don't belong to any of them. The preps are snobs, the jocks only care about sports and usually have the intelligence of a thermos, the drama club and art club are full of drama-queens (yes, that includes the guys), the goths and punks are all drug addicts, and the nerds are. well. nerds.  
  
My friends and I aren't any of those things. We're just normal 16-year-old girls, trying to make it through highschool alive and if we're lucky, unscathed.  
  
And I had been pretty okay with that as of late. My grades are good and my friends Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, are all great. We've been best friends since we were in diapers. And though maybe a tad bit superficial at times, they're all loyal and true friends. I even had a boyfriend briefly last year. Though Kouga and I broke up, we're still good friends.  
  
So everything was going okay.  
  
And now, just when I seem to be warming up to my life, really starting to appreciate it, the bomb drops, and mom decides we have a duty to grandpa. That it's our job to babysit him and make sure he doesn't lose it. isn't that what retirement homes are for?  
  
When I suggested this to mom, she didn't seem to fancy the idea.  
  
So here I am, in my room, packing my clothes into a suitcase so I'll be ready to leave bright and early tomorrow for our family shrine, the Sunset Shrine. Movers will take our furniture and a few other things to the shrine for us.  
  
And all I can think about is how much I'll miss my friends, and how miserable I'll be at the new highschool I'm going to in Tokyo. Not only will I be a social outcast there, I'll have no one to be a social outcast with.  
  
All I know is, if grandpa tries to vanquish me, I can't be held responsible for my actions.  
  
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A/N So, what'd you guys think? I know it's rather short, but it is a teaser after all. And don't worry, ^_^ Inuyasha will be appearing shortly. Probably in the next chapter, chapter three at the very latest.  
  
If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them! ^_~ Reviews would be nice. 


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A/N Ooh yay! *huggles all the reviewers* 

Thanks go to: **lilemmy**, **Lizio**, **No one in particular**, **strangerthanthou** (thanks for reviewing even though you already beta read it! Uberfoo's noble mission continues!), **JoJo10**, **theblackrose**, **Arestelwen. Hope and Light**, **hoshi-ko88**, **EvilBunnies1**, and **Hiei's-sweetsnow**. 

Thank you all for reviewing! 

Disclaimer – *sigh* Only in my dreams. 

Warning: Slight OOC-ness 

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~ Kagome's POV ~ 

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Poke. 

I ignored it. 

Poke. Poke. 

I clenched my fists and ground my teeth together, willing myself not to give into the temptation. 

Poke. Poke. Poke. 

Okay Kagome, you can handle this, just take deep breaths, in, out, in, out, in, out… 

Poke. Poke. Poke. 

Count to ten Kagome… you can do it, don't give in! 

Poke. Poke. Poke. 

Screw this! He's SO dead. 

I turned around in my seat and glared at my little brother. He was lounging in the back seat of the car, giving me this totally innocent look. Right. 

He'd been poking me incessantly practically the entire drive to Tokyo. Did he really think I'd believe that innocent façade he was putting on? If mom hadn't been sitting right next to me giving me a warning look I'd be an only child right now. 

I turned back around in my seat and looked out the window. I saw skyscrapers, cars, and lots of people fly by in a blur. Lots and lots of people. Tokyo had to be the largest city I'd ever seen. We had lived in a small suburb of Tokyo, but I had only been into the city a handful of times. And we had certainly never thought about living here. Just going on an outing into Tokyo was exhausting, what was _living_ here going to be like? Would I like it? 

I snorted. 

Probably not. 

How could I? It was so… _stuffy_. I mean, there were buildings and cars and people crowded everywhere. Where could I go if I ever wanted to get away from it all? Was there anywhere in this huge city that didn't have cement or tar or metal? 

I sighed and slouched in my seat. 

Hopefully I'd at least be getting my own room, seeing as how I'd probably be spending a lot of time there. 

I looked over at mom. She was smiling softly to herself, which I must say, kind of surprised me. I knew it hadn't been easy for her to leave either… how could it have been? Mom had lived at our old home for years. That's where we had moved right after Souta was born. Souta took his first step in that house. That's where I got my first bulls eye in archery. That's where dad died. 

I slouched further into my seat, a slight frown on my face. 

Was that why? Did mom want to get away from there because of the memories? The memories of dad? 

I didn't have much more time to contemplate this, because I noticed the car starting to slow down. I paid more attention to my surroundings and noticed we were now in a residential area, as opposed to the business sect of Tokyo we had just driven through. The car started pulling to a stop and mom let out a chipper "We're here!" 

Great. 

Souta perked up immediately and started bouncing in his seat with anticipation. 

Why was he so excited? We'd been here before. We had visited grandpa in the Shrine more than once, it's not like we were seeing if for the first time. 

Which is why I don't understand the quickening of my pulse when the car stopped at the curb of the sidewalk, just in front of the long stairway up to the main shrine. Our new house was behind the shrine building. 

The Sunset Shrine was large. The grounds held the main shrine, a storage building, an old well house, and the shrine keeper's home, which had been modernized for its inhabitant's convenience. 

Thank Kami-sama. 

Mom's smile grew wider as she stepped out of the car and looked up at the Shrine, her hand placed above her eyes to protect them from the bright rays of the sun. 

Souta hopped out of the car and scrambled over to the stairs, racing up them immediately. Mom laughed and told him to slow down. We had plenty of time and he had to get his luggage out of the car first. 

I stayed in my seat just looking out the window at the part of the Shrine that was visible above the massive staircase. So many thoughts were running around in my head that I started to feel lightheaded. 

The predominant thought being: would I like it here? 

I didn't know for certain of course, but I had a pretty good guess. Though the neighborhood the Shrine is located in is a residential area and is not nearly as bustling as downtown Tokyo had been, it is still far busier than our old neighborhood. Of course, the tourists that occasionally visited the Shrine might have something to do with that. 

All that aside though, I still wasn't sure how exactly I felt about living here. I love my grandpa and wanted to help him, I really did. But moving in with him was a far cry from what I thought would be necessary. I was thinking along the lines of calling once a day and visiting more often. Maybe asking his neighbors to check in on him. 

Even though that really wouldn't have worked since all grandpa's neighbors are scared to go anywhere near him, for fear he might try to purify them with charms and demon wards. 

But that's beside the point. The point is, I think moving in with him is going a little over board. He didn't even hurt those people he tried to vanquish! But they had to go and overreact. They had to call the police, who just had to inform his doctor, who had to inform mom. Are you noticing a pattern here? 

And it wasn't so much the fact that we were moving in with grandpa, or that we would be living in Tokyo that bothered me. Other than its massive size and huge populace, I really had nothing against Tokyo. The fact that I was forced to move, without even being asked how I felt was what really bothered me. I mean, mom didn't even _ask_. She just informed Souta and I that we would be moving in with grandpa a few nights ago at dinner. Needless to say I didn't eat much that night. 

And while I was upset with the news of having to be ripped away from the home I had grown up in since childhood and the friends I had known all my life, Souta was absolutely ecstatic. He loved the Shrine and still does. On our visits he would always poke around the storage building and rummage through all the "genuine artifacts" grandpa kept there to sell to tourists. I think he just liked the air that was about the place. That aged feeling of mystery that screamed secrets and adventure. Of course he just doesn't realize that the Shrine really isn't that old. It was built in the 1920's by my great grandfather. The only ancient thing on the Shrine is the Go-Shinboku. It's over five hundred years old. That tree is the only "genuine" piece of history on Shrine grounds. 

But Souta still loves it and always seems to find something to get excited over. He'll learn soon enough, no need to crush his joy yet. 

I'm glad Souta's excited, but I just can't find anything to be excited about. What if I'm not happy here? What if I don't make any friends? What if my new school is just as bad as my last one? What if my grandpa drives me insane? 

"Kagome!" 

My eyes, that must've glazed over while I was thinking, focused on my mom, who had called me from the top of the Shrine steps. 

"Kagome!" she shouted again while motioning for me to join her with her arm, "Come on! How long do you plan on staying in the car?" 

I sweat dropped. I hadn't been thinking that long. 

I unbuckled my seat belt, opened the car door and stepped outside. 

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While carrying my two heavy suitcases up the Shrine steps, panting and trying desperately not to keel over right then and there, all I could think about was; what the heck had my great grandpa been thinking?! No wonder grandpa's been getting so few tourists lately; none of them have made it up the stairs! They get half way up and decide it's not worth it! And I gotta tell you, I can't say I disagree with them. 

By the time I made it to the house, my arms felt like lead. I dropped my suitcases next to the door with no intention of moving them any time soon. Souta was full of energy, maybe I could get him to carry them to my room. 

Mom came up behind me as I stood in the doorway to the house. She put her arm around my shoulder and smiled an encouraging smile at me. 

"Wow," She said, "The house looks wonderful. Grandpa must've cleaned for our arrival. Great isn't it?" 

I put on a cheery smile for her sake, "Yeah, great." 

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A/N ^_^ Yay! I finally got someone to beta for me (since my normal beta-reader is living at school at the moment)! So finally you guys get to read the chappie! Thanks a bunch Mage! *huggles* 

So anyway, this was more of an informative chapter, so that's why not much happened. The next chapter will be more interesting, no worries! Inuyasha will appear either in the next chapter or the one after that, depends on how much I get written into the next one. 

Hope you guys enjoyed! Reviews are greatly appreciated! 

~ Mustard Yellow Sunshine ~ 


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